Having conversations, being present, and engaging on social media are more important than Follower count and are the keys to success. Tweetchats are a fantastic way to find great people to have these conversations with; this blog will discuss some of my favorite tweetchats. Please give them a look, jump into a conversation, and build your network.

#ContentChat – Monday 3-4 pm EST hosted by Erika Heald @SFerika: This chat brings together content creators and content marketers to share their challenges and best practices for solving them.

#SproutChat – Wednesday 3-4 pm EST hosted by Sprout Social @SproutSocial and Vera Flores @sproutvera: Discussions around relevant topics and challenges that social media and community managers face.

#TwitterSmarter – Thursday 1-2 pm EST hosted by Madalyn Sklar @MadalynSklar: As the name suggests, this chat is about all things Twitter and Twitter marketing.

#HootChat – Thursday 3-4 pm EST hosted by Hootsuite @hootsuite: From tools, to strategy, and best practices – all things social media.

I participate in these chats because they are hosted and attended by knowledgeable people and relevant to my career. If these do not interest you, don’t worry, there are many chats out there; do some research and find those that do. No matter which one you choose, I recommend using TweetChat to follow and participate. Hope to chat with you soon; I look forward to your comments and questions.

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When most consider Twitter analytics, they think of a custom campaign measured by utm codes and Google Analyitcs, but are you also utilizing Twitter’s built-in tools? When was the last time you clicked the Analytics tab from the dropdown of your profile picture on the top right corner? Hopefully this blog will introduce you to some Twitter-tools that will increase your reach and engagement.

Analytics opens with the Home tab to give you an idea of how your tweets are doing. What are you Tweet impressions (the number of times your tweets have been seen), what was your Top Tweet, are you getting mentioned by others, and who is your Top Mention. Keep track of this data month to month and ensure you are reaching out to your Top Mentions.

After Home, I click the Tweets tab: are people really seeing my tweets, are they clicking on hyperlinks, and are they taking actions: retweets, likes, and replies. This tab provides insight to reach and most importantly engagement.

Next is the Audiences tab: there is so much good stuff here, explore and see what is important to you and your brand. This data can be toggled by audience: All Twitter Users, Your Followers, or Your Organic Audience. Once you have chosen the audience, dig into the data types.

Take the time to review all this great data and learn who you are tweeting to, what they like consuming, and what tweets encourage their engagement.

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My recap of the 11/12017 #Bufferchat hosted by @buffer. Join the conversation every Wednesday at 12pm EST. Culture is the backbone of your company; are your employees engaged or are you pushing them out the door?

Q1: What are the benefits of building a positive work culture?

A positive work culture leads to happy and motivated employees

Positive work culture drive employee longevity

Positive and motivated employees pass that great attitude on to their customers

Q2: What is one of the first steps you would take to implement more positivity?

Positivity and great culture starts from the top – Management must live it lead by example

Meet regularly with your team

Create a culture that manages people over spreadsheets

Along with team communication, don’t let individuals live on islands: let them know how they are contributing

Just like passing on employees who don’t get it done, remove toxic managers

Q3: Do you think positive work cultures are more productive? Why or why not?

Positive cultures are the MOST productive: they WANT to come to work and contribute to company goals

When you know the impact you have on company goals, you are more willing to participate

A culture of fear destroys productivity and increases turnover

Q4: What can you do to promote or model positive and honest communication?

Don’t hide in your office – walk the floor and talk to people

Smile to others

Say Thank you

Don’t get defensive when criticized

Q5: How do you prevent “false harmony” when developing this kind of culture?

“False harmony” is spotted right away – employees know it when they see it

Don’t say you are pro-customer, then create policies that annoy them

Just like “Your call is important to us” employees can see when mgmt is not being honest

If you LIVE the culture / behavior you want, your team will too

Numbers are easy to manage, people are much harder – train people HOW to manage others

ASK your employees what environment / culture they seek – report back to them and implement what makes sense

Q6: Are there goals or intentions you can set around positive work culture?

Improved employee retention rate

Net promoter score improvement with customers

Thanks for reading – hope to see you at the next #bufferchat and look forward to your comments and questions.

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My recap and answers I provided for the 10/26/2017 #TwitterSmarter chat hosted by @MadalynSklar and guest @AgoraPulse. Join the conversation every Thursday at 1pm EST. Automation may be a time saver, but it is NOT engagement and may actually hurt you.

Q1: Can you really put your Twitter profile on “auto-pilot” with automation tools?

You can put your account on auto-pilot, but I do not recommend it

Going on auto-pilot removes true conversation with fellow tweeters

Auto-pilot could hurt credibility and make you appear to be a bot

I schedule tweets, but ALWAYS engage myself

Q2: What types of content or updates can be shared via automation tools?

I schedule blog posts

I tried to auto-pilot my tweetchat answers, but it did not work out well 🙂

Q3: How often do you repeat content on Twitter? Do you get good results?

I post blogs on multiple times and day when I write them

I believe it is ok to reuse content, but I try not to over-post the same thing

Q4: Where do businesses or brands often fail when it comes to automating their social media channels?

Brands fail when they use canned, generic responses

Brands fail when they over schedule and post too much all at once

Brand fail when they don’t measure the popularity of their content and keep posting things ppl don’t like or value

There is NOTHING worse than an auto-DM with a link to a blog or sales pitch

Q5: What automation tools can help you share content in a relevant, meaningful way?

I use @hootsuite to schedule and share my blog

I use @tweetchat to follow and participate in tweetchats

Q6: What are your top tips for using automation to increase your traffic and reach?

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Good day community managers and social pros, this is my recap and answers I provided for the 10/25/2017 #SproutChat hosted by Rachael Samuels @RachaelSamuels Join the conversation every Wednesday at 3pm EST.

Q1: What are some best practices for managing multimedia content for social media?

Ensure the content is sized and formatted to match each social media outlet

Build a library of content used

Use the right platform to reach the right audience

ALWAYS give credit to the content’s creator if it is not you or your firm

Q2: How do you manage visual content when you’re at a live event with a team? Or on the go?

Smartphone

Livestream

If I am going to attend a show, I let my audience know prior and what hashtag to follow

LiveTweet with pictures of yourself (and customers or fellow employees)

Ensure you enable geolocation and tag your location when on the go

Q3: What are ways that you can ensure that there isn’t crossover in posting if multiple people have access?